Charlie, Evie and Ford

Charlie, Evie and Ford

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Basketball with Daddy

I came outside the other day and found Charlie challenging Clint to a very competitive basketball game. This mostly involved Clint shooting and Charlie careening down the driveway in his walker (he loved having the incline to really get him going). Charlie loved watching Clint play and I thought the two of them were just too cute!

Here's Charlie hoping that Clint doesn't decide to throw the ball to him...
Watching the shot very carefully.
Critiquing the form.
Cheering for a basket!
Laughing at an air ball. :)

Snow!

A couple weeks ago (I know, I'm still behind on my posts :), Charlie saw his first Texas snowstorm. It has been COLD up here in Dallas, but the snow made the cold so much more fun. Charlie and I ventured out briefly, but spent most of our snow day snuggled up inside. I love these lazy days!


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Visitors

We had such a fun week last week, full of fun visitors. Charlie was, of course, thrilled with all the attention and so excited to have some of his favorite people in town. First, Grandma Ali came and spent a few days with us to help with the transition to the bottle. Even though the transition was a bit stressful for all involved :), we had a great time and Charlie loved getting in some quality time with his Ali. I loved having the moral support while we were making the transition and had so much fun running around with my mom! Unfortunately, I didn't get a real picture of Charlie and Ali together, so this one of Charlie pulling up on Grandma Ali will have to do. :)
Next, Uncle Sam and Soon-To-Be-Aunt Audra came to visit. Sam and Audra are considering a move to Dallas (nothing would make us happier!!), and they came up to check out the city. We had a wonderful time exploring the city with them, eating out, playing games, and just hanging out and laughing. Charlie loved getting to see them and is SO hoping that he can lure them up here. Again, I was terrible about getting my camera out, so we have no pictures with them. :( Hopefully, they will move up here and give us plenty of photographic opportunities. :)

Finally, Clint's parents came down for a short visit. Even though we didn't have too much time with them, we had a great time and Charlie loved getting to see them. Mimi brought us some wonderful homemade bread, which we enjoyed for days after they left. I didn't get a picture of Charlie with PawPaw, but I did get this picture of Charlie and Mimi at the park. Charlie was so excited about the swings!
Thanks everyone for coming to visit--we loved seeing you!

Cheap Thrills

Charlie's latest favorite activity is riding in the "car" carts at Whole Foods and Central Market. He LOVES these carts, and somehow, seemed to know exactly what to do the first time I put him in (his little hands go immediately to the steering wheel, and he steers wildly the whole time). He has so much fun cruising through the store in these carts and I get the biggest kick out of watching him. It's a win-win situation--I get my shopping done and Charlie thinks we've spent the morning at an amusement park. :)

I love watching this little guy "drive" through the store. He remains very intent and does not take his eyes off the road. :)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

8 Months Old!

Another month down, and Charlie is now 8 months old (really, more like 8 1/2; I'm just so behind on my blogging :). I know I say this every month, but I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by. At the end of each day, I feel like I just want to stop time and spend more time with Charlie at this age. We are having so much fun, but it is all just passing too quickly. Case in point--Charlie started crawling last night! Although I am excited for him to be crawling, I am already missing his precious little army crawl. Very glad we got that on video before it disappears (I think we have a way to go before it disappears completely--the little man is still reverting to it when he really wants to move somewhere quickly :).

At 8 months, Charlie is crawling and pulling up. He loves to stand and will pull up on anything and everything he can find. His favorite thing is to pull up on his wagon or on me (or any person sitting down on the ground with him). He gets so proud of himself when he stands up--as soon as he realizes what he's done, he flashes the biggest smile. He loves the wagon he got for Christmas, and loves to pull up and walk around the house behind it. He's really getting pretty good--it always looks like the wagon is going to roll away from him, but he somehow manages (not particularly gracefully) to stay on his feet. A few weeks ago he figured out how to sit up on his own and that has been quite exciting for him. As soon as I put him in his crib for a nap or at night, he pops up and plays around for a while before he goes to sleep. We have so much fun watching him moving around in his crib busily on the video monitor. :)

Charlie is still just a sweet, happy, loving baby. He has all kinds of new sounds this month--he says "dada," "baba," "yaya," "nana," "mama," blows raspberries, and continues with his ever-hilarious screeching. He loves it when I mimic him and screech back at him--we can go back and forth like this for a while, and he dissolves into giggles every time. :) He still loves his bath and gets excited every time we go into the bathroom at night. He starts giggling as soon as the water goes on and then just starts talking up a storm. He loves being tickled before the bath, and loves rolling around in his birthday suit :) afterwards. Charlie has the funniest little flirtatious face he's been doing lately--he tilts his head to the side, rests it on his shoulder, wrinkles up his nose, and gives a huge smile. He will continue doing this as long as it gets a reaction. :)

Charlie still loves being outside more than anything, and is even loving it in this cold weather. We've been walking down to our neighborhood park a couple times a week, and Charlie's favorite thing there is the swing. He kicks his little legs around as soon as he gets in and laughs every time I push him.

Charlie is continuing to be a great sleeper, and sleeps from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. After a 3-day battle, Charlie is taking bottles again, which has provided some much-needed freedom for me. He has four teeth now (2 on top and 2 on bottom) and 2 more just beginning to break through on top. And we went back to the pediatrician this month for a weight check since his weight was a little low last month, and he did great. His 8 months stats were:

Height: 28 inches (60%)
Weight: 17 lbs., 10 oz. (20%)

This has been a busy month, but we have had so much fun settling back in after the holidays. I cannot believe how fast Charlie is changing and all the new things he is doing. We are so proud of our busy, hardworking little boy!

At our "photo shoot," Charlie was busy, busy, busy. It was almost impossible to get a picture of his face!
He LOVES pulling up...including on the chair...
I had to toss him in the corner of the couch and snap a picture very quickly to get a photo before he was on the move again. :)
This is kind of what his flirtatious face looks like... :)
I have no idea what he is doing here, but I think this picture is hilarious. Maybe Charlie is worshipping the sun gods?
Although he's not too interested in finger foods yet (they involve a lot of gagging and throwing food on the floor), he LOVES his teething biscuits.
Again, nothing this boy loves more than standing. He is SO proud of himself. :)
Charlie loves pushing up with his back legs. I love his ears. :)
Trying desperately to crawl right off the chair.
He looks innocent...
...but he's really not. :)
Protesting my photo session.
Those of you who have been at our house during the day have likely seen (and heard) the cardinal that lives in the maple tree outside our window. The poor little guy bangs on our window all day every day. Charlie has become very interested in him and we have to make several trips to the window every day to visit with Mr. Cardinal and watch him bang away. Here's Charlie monitoring Mr. Cardinal's activities.
I love this age!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

New Year's Eve

For the third? fourth? (not sure) year in a row, we had a family New Year's Eve celebration out at the ranch. It was even more fun this year than usual--the kids had so much fun playing outside during the day and the adults had so much fun playing in the evening after the kids went home to their babysitters. :) Thanks to Graeme, our poker tournament was very well-organized this year and we all had so much fun with it. Even though I didn't win at poker, I feel like our fun NYE celebration predicts a very good year ahead. :)

Charlie had a great time "driving" the jeep. He could not believe that we left him alone at the steering wheel--he really could not stop smiling.
Someone has figured out how to pull up and loves to pull himself up to standing. He thinks he is SO big. And I LOVE this cowboy hat on him. (We stole it from Elec, so it's a bit snug :).
Drinking and driving...

Charlie did not want to pose for a picture. :(
Charlie and his angels (note that he WAS happy to pose for a picture with them :).
Sweet Charlotte was so cute with her little smiles.
We tried to get a 2nd-cousin picture, but we were missing Elizabeth, Emma, Abby, and Elec. Charlie and Charlotte were slightly nervous about their precarious positions. :)
Getting more nervous...
We had to call in an expert.
When Elec returned to the cabin, the boys had some play time together in their coordinating PJs.
Charlie just loved playing with Elec...
Do I have to go to bed???
Once the kids were in bed, we kicked off the poker tournament. The boys were very serious about it.
The championship table! (I can't believe I made it :). Unfortunately, I finished just out of the money (in 4th), but it was so much fun playing. I have no idea what Clint is doing in the background here.
Happy 2011!

Hanging out with the Cousins...

The week between Christmas and New Year's was so much fun. All of my cousins stayed in town and we got to hang out quite a bit. It was so nice catching up with everyone and seeing all the kids (there are 11 kids 5 and under, so it was busy, busy, busy!). Even though it's crazy and hectic, I just love our big family! Below is a (very random :) collection of photos from the week.

Here's Charlie all dressed up for a trip out to our ranch...
Things got a bit crazy once we got out there...I don't know if poor Jules ever got all those leaves off her jacket. :)
Katie also dressed up for the trip.
Charlie entertained Papa by trying on his hat.
Jackson, Julia, and Katie came over to play quite a bit. Charlie loved the army gear and guns they brought with them. Here's Charlie desperately trying to get Julia's gun.
But when that failed, he settled for her helmet. :)
Aunt Meggie was a wonderful playmate all during the vacation.
As was Papa (Charlie is trying to climb over the couch to Papa here).
Elec and Charlie got some one-on-one time as well, which was fun. Charlie loved Elec, although it seems as though he is equally enamored with the toy in his mouth.
Still gnawing on the toy...
Even a kiss on the head can't distract him...
Finally, it's out of the mouth!
What a fun week!